NorthRock Partners LLC Increases Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• NorthRock Partners LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 4.0% in the first quarter, now owning 32,173 shares worth approximately $18.5 million.
• Insiders at Meta, including CTO Andrew Bosworth and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, sold substantial shares recently, with Bosworth selling 22,449 shares and Zuckerberg selling 13,793 shares, reflecting a significant decrease in their ownership.
• Meta Platforms recently reported $7.14 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations and showing a 21.6% year-over-year revenue growth of $47.52 billion.

NorthRock Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 4.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,173 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,245 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 0.6% of NorthRock Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. NorthRock Partners LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $18,544,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 102.6% in the 1st quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $812.00 to $897.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Moffett Nathanson increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $870.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, TD Securities reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $820.32.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.08, for a total transaction of $336,232.20. Following the sale, the director owned 9,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,755,013.36. The trade was a 4.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total value of $11,939,605.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 167,298 shares of company stock worth $116,742,790. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.1%

META stock traded down $8.30 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $768.07. The stock had a trading volume of 3,441,751 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,569,142. The business has a 50-day moving average of $704.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $647.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The firm has a market cap of $1.93 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $478.65 and a 52-week high of $784.75.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.16 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 7.60%.

Meta Platforms Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.